From left, Geoffrey Fay of Pullman and Comley, Randy Salvatore of RMS Construction and John Stoddard of Jones Lang LaSalle speak during the Real Estate Finance Association luncheon at the Stamford Marriott on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. less

From left, Geoffrey Fay of Pullman and Comley, Randy Salvatore of RMS Construction and John Stoddard of Jones Lang LaSalle speak during the Real Estate Finance Association luncheon at the Stamford Marriott on ... more

"For 2014, I expect the private office market to be very limited. New construction will be concentrated in Houston, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, Manhattan, plus a few projects elsewhere. Most office construction will be reconfiguring space," he said. "Vacancy rates will remain high in most suburban markets, including Fairfield County, and that will hold down new construction. I expect lodging to remain a very strong market, with new and renovated business and convention hotels, leisure travel and extended-stay all doing well."

While new office construction is at a near standstill in the county, other areas of commercial construction, as well as apartments are taking up the slack.

Stamford-based Seaboard Properties is constructing a 156-room Marriott Residence Inn on Atlantic Street in the city with a goal of opening it by the end of 2014. The company also is embarking on a 17-apartment project at 25 Bank St., with 3,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

"We're about to start this quarter. We've had this project on the books for a couple years," said Seaboard CEO John DiMenna.

He was upbeat about the prospects of several projects starting in Stamford in 2014, citing the Cappelli Organization's plans for a 650-apartment complex on the site of the former post office on Atlantic Street, F.D. Rich Co.'s Summer House, a 226-apartment complex on lower Summer Street, the Trinity Financial apartment/retail complex on Summer Street and a mixed-use project planned by F.D. Rich and Ironstate Development at the infamous "hole in the ground" on Tresser Boulevard.

F.D. Rich plans to start construction in September, said Tom Rich, president and CEO.

"We hope to file plans with the planning and zoning commissions within a month. We're looking at 700 apartments -- plus or minus -- with parking below ground and retail space at the corner of Greyrock and Tresser," said Rich, who has adopted the theme, "urban-ready living," for the project. "I feel pretty good. We have a great team. Ironstate has a tremendous amount of experience in building projects like this."

`Confidence is back'

Also underway in Stamford is the Verano, a 58-apartment complex being built on Summer St., by RMS Construction.

"We'll be finished in the spring. I think confidence is back. The market in rentals is great," said RMS CEO Randy Salvatore, who is also building Copper Square, a 136-unit townhouse and duplex development in Bethel, and plans to start a 70-unit townhouse project in Danbury in the spring.

Two mixed-use apartment/retail buildings are under way on Hope Street -- an 88-apartment project with 2,200 square feet of retail by Garden Homes Management and the other, a 13-apartment complex developed by GTO Capital and ECE Development.

"There are plenty of things happening in Stamford. Stamford is booming. It's all multi-family," said Richard Freedman, president of Garden Homes Management, who expects to start construction March 1. "I'm also putting up multi-family units in Milford and Fairfield."

Greenwich Avenue

The lower end of Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich also has been the scene of construction activity with the recent completion of a retail/residential complex by JCS Construction.

A three-story, 13,000-square-foot commercial/apartment building is being developed for Laraco and should be done this summer, and another three-story, 10,000-square-foot building, housing apartments and commercial space and planned by 415 GA Acquisition, should start construction in the spring, according to Rudy Ridberg, whose Greenwich architectural firm, Ridberg & Associates, has designed each project.

"I think most architects in Fairfield County are busy now. 2014 should be a good year," he said.

Construction of Waypointe, a project on West Avenue in Norwalk, which involves 774 apartments and more than 90,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and is being developed by Greenwich-based Belpointe Real Estate, is well under way.

Activity in Danbury

Danbury is a center of construction activity, according to Bruce Tuomala, the city's economic development director, citing Virginia-based Greystar's plan to build a 375-unit, three-building apartment complex on nine acres at the former Amphenol site on Kennedy Avenue as an example of the city's growth. The project is expected to start this summer.

Other projects underway in 2014 include a $9 million clean-room upgrade at Mannkind Pharmaceutical's facility in Danbury, Belimo Air Control's new 200,000-square-foot, $40 million facility off Turner Road and Perosphere, a new pharmaceutical research company that is spending $3 million to refurbish a 16,000-square-foot building on Kenosia Avenue.

While Bridgeport awaits the construction start of the 140,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shop at Steelpointe Harbor this year, Darien-based Forstone Capital is focusing on reconstruction of the old Mechanics & Farmers Bank property at 930 Main St., and a building on McLevy Square at 899 Main St.

Forstone is converting the former bank structure into a 30 apartments and a 25,000-square-foot first-floor office space that will house the Fletcher Thompson architectural firm.

"It's under construction and will be finalized in the next two to three months," said Forstone Principal Brandon Hall, adding that the other Main Street site will be converted into 30 apartments and ground floor retail space.

"We've been investing in Bridgeport since 2007," he said. "We've seen tremendous progress."